April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Andy Coulson, the former editor of
News Corp.’s News of the World, said he saw the irony in running
a story on a politician’s affair while he was in an extra-marital relationship with Rebekah Brooks.

Coulson, 46, told a London court that he “regretted”
publishing a story on former U.K. Home Secretary David
Blunkett’s affair as he had been cheating on his wife with
Brooks, the former head of News Corp.’s U.K. unit.

“I regret the decision, yes,” Coulson said while being
cross-examined during his sixth day of testimony. “This was
about someone having an affair. And given what was going on in
my life, the irony is not lost on me.”

Coulson and Brooks are among seven people on trial for a
variety of wrongdoing at News Corp.’s U.K. newspapers, including
voice-mail interception and bribing public officials. Company
Chairman Rupert Murdoch closed the News of the World in 2011 in
response to public outrage over the discovery that journalists
had listened to messages on the phone of a murdered schoolgirl.

Prosecutors said the six-year affair between Brooks and
Coulson is central to allegations that the pair conspired on
illegal news gathering practices while both were editors at News
Corp. tabloids.

The 2004 story on Blunkett was unearthed by Neville
Thurlbeck, then the News of the World’s senior reporter. Coulson
said last week that Thurlbeck played him a recording of a voice
mail revealing the relationship.

No Discipline

Coulson, a former adviser to U.K. Prime Minister David
Cameron, said today that Thurlbeck, who has pleaded guilty to
phone hacking in the current case, wasn’t disciplined for
intercepting messages on the phone of Blunkett’s lover.

Under questioning by David Spens, the lawyer for Clive
Goodman, another defendant in the case, Coulson denied that he
asked Thurlbeck whether he obtained the recording through phone
hacking.

“You are a very bright man with a questioning mind,” said
Spens. “Are you really saying you didn’t ask him how he did
it?”

“The reason is that you knew it was happening at the News
of the World and you didn’t need to know how,” Spens said.

“That is not true,” Coulson replied.

Coulson agreed that he made a decision not tell police
about the Blunkett phone messages following the arrest of
Goodman in 2006 to protect himself.

Save Skin

“You chose not to tell the police about Neville Thurlbeck
because you were concerned to save your own skin,” Spens said.

“I accept that the impact on me was a factor, but there
were other factors,” Coulson replied.

Goodman was convicted of phone hacking along with a private
investigator and jailed in 2007. In this trial, Goodman is
charged with conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office.